Banjo is part of a cadre of startups focused on surfacing relevant social information for users based on location. Sonar, Highlight and others are all playing in a space we like to call ambient awareness. Highlight recently raised a round of funding and Sonar launched on Android. But while there is a lot of potential in this area, there is also a lot of risk.
Many users still aren't comfortable sharing their location or being introduced to strangers around them based on an algorithm. The recent controversy over the Girls Near Me app shows how bad things can get.
"We knew from the beginning that building a social discovery app around a location platform would mean having to think seriously about privacy," said Patton. "Our policy has always been simple. We respect all the settings you have in place on your social networks. We don't show anything to people who would not already be able to see it. And we never download or store you contact list."
